Allen Park
Lawn decor taken
Several lawn ornaments were stolen from a house in the 9600 block of Laurence between midnight and 11 a.m. June 27.

Among them were a water fountain with its base, two solar flowers, a sparkling globe and a potted plant. Total value of the items is about $200.

Street hit by trio of burglaries
Three residences in the 15000 and 15100 blocks of Pennsylvania were burglarized between about midnight and 5 a.m. June 24. The burglaries were discovered between 5:15 a.m. June 24 and 1:45 p.m. June 25.

The first house was broken into between 11:15 a.m. June 23 and 5:15 a.m. June 24 while the resident was at a casino. Screens of two rear windows were ripped out and a 19-inch computer monitor and jar full of old silver quarters were stolen. Cabinet drawers in a bedroom had been ransacked as well.

The next burglary was discovered about 7:30 p.m. June 24 by a resident returning from out of town. The rear door had been pried and left open, and a smeared footprint on the door showed it had been kicked at least twice. Muddy footprints were found throughout the house, and jewelry boxes in the bedrooms had been dumped out.

A silver industrial flashlight that did not belong to the victim also was found in one bedroom. Several pieces of a wooden fence outside had been knocked off, but the victim was unsure of what items were stolen.

A family relative discovered the third burglary during a check of the house while the resident was on vacation. The house last was checked about 3:45 p.m. June 23 and was fine. The front door’s deadbolt was unlocked and the rear sliding door and rear bedroom window were open.

Bedroom cabinet drawers had been dumped out. A 32-inch flat-screen television was missing from one bedroom, as well as more than $10,000 in men’s and women’s jewelry, including more than eight rings, 10 necklaces and 10 bracelets. Footprints in a backyard sandbox were from a Nike Air Force One shoe, according to a detective.
Dearborn
Teen crashes van on nature trail
An 18-year-old man was cited for reckless driving at 10 p.m. June 28 for crashing his father’s 1998 Dodge Carvan into a tree on the Rouge River Gateway Greenway Trail.

Officers were dispatched after a bicyclist spotted the vehicle abandoned and crashed about a quarter-mile from the trail’s entrance, near Andiamo, 21400 Michigan Avenue. Police reported extensive damage to the hood of the van.

A license plate check led police to a house in the 6400 block of Barrie, where a man said he had let his son borrow the car earlier. The son, who was home, admitted to driving on the trail and also acknowledged he knew it wasn’t intended for cars.

He told police he was showing his girlfriend the woods behind Henry Ford Community College and the University of Michigan-Dearborn and then became lost on the trail.

When he approached the wooden footbridge over the Rouge River, he said he accelerated to 40 mph for fear of the bridge giving way and was unable to slow down at a sharp turn immediately after crossing the bridge. Neither he nor his girlfriend were injured, he said.

4 arrested for tire iron assault, attempted robbery
Police arrested four 19-year-olds for their suspected involvement in an attempted armed robbery that went awry in the 1700 block of Wyoming about 1 a.m. June 25.

The victim, a 32-year-old resident, told police he was sitting in his Buick Rendezvous when two men asking for cigarettes approached him. He told them he didn’t have any, and they then walked away, he said.

Shortly thereafter, the two men returned with what the victim described as a toy gun from a gas station and demanded money. When the victim refused, one of the men said, “Hit him! Hit him!”

The other man then began striking the victim in the left temple with a tire iron. The attacker swung the weapon several more times, but the victim was able to absorb most of the blows with his left arm rather than his head.

Finally the victim was able to wrestle away the tire iron and got out of the car, causing his assailants to flee to a waiting late-1990s model Jeep.

Using the victim’s description of the suspects, Detroit police pulled over a Jeep with four passengers, two of which were the men who attacked the victim. All four – three men and one woman – were arrested for various offenses and arrest warrants.

Dearborn Heights
Van, collectibles stolen
A 2005 Dodge Sprinter containing thousands of dollars worth of sports, police and military collectibles was stolen from the 18000 block of Colgate sometime between June 21 and June 23.

The owner told police the van contained several irreplaceable items, and that he believed the suspect could be someone he knows, because the van’s spare key was missing from his garage. Among the items in the van were two Mickey Mantle baseball bats valued at $2,500 each.

Lincoln Park
Robbers rip down sink, ransack house
Thieves netted about $2,000 worth of goods last Sunday from a house in the 400 block of Mayflower.

The resident left for work about 10:30 p.m. June 26 and returned the next morning to find a kitchen window open and a bottle of soda from her refrigerator outside the back door. The entire house had been rifled through. A television was thrown off its stand, jewelry boxes were strewn about a bedroom and the bathroom sink was ripped off the wall.

Missing items included two video game systems, valued at $400 and $300, respectively; two MP3 players, valued at $300 and $200, respectively; a laptop computer ($500); jewelry ($300); and computer speakers ($100).

Closing-time visit a prelude to theft?
An equipment rental shop at 625 Southfield Road was found robbed Monday morning of about $20,000 worth of power and hand tools.

The owner said a Hispanic man in his 40s and a white man with long brown hair, wearing shorts and no shirt had come into his store just before closing time the night before asking if the owner had any scrap metal he wanted to give away. He told them no, but they asked again before leaving in a beaten-up, green late 1970s or early 1980s model Ford pickup truck with wooden stakes surrounding the bed.

On Monday the owner found the items missing. They included two sanders valued collectively at $15,000; a mig welder and a spot welder ($1,250 together); two quarter phase angle regulators ($3,000); a power washer ($800); and a blue automotive tarp ($20). Damage to the lock was estimated at $50.

The owner said the Hispanic man spoke with a Spanish accent and that the shirtless man had a tattoo on his left arm.

Melvindale
Shovel smashes window during larceny
Officers were dispatched to the 18500 block of Ruth at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in response to an automobile larceny.

Someone had taken a shovel from the side of the resident’s home and broken the left rear window of her daughter’s vehicle. Both the car stereo and a cell phone were taken from the vehicle.

Three bicycles taken from locked garage
A detached garage was broken into the night of June 26 or 27 in the 18600 block of Hanna.

The victim discovered the rear door was forced open by breaking the handle and she reported it about 11:45 a.m. June 28.

Three bicycles with numerous accessories attached to each were stolen. The victim said the theft was discovered the day before, and that her husband fixed the damaged door and replaced the locks.

Riverview
Four hours not enough to sober up
Police stopped a silver 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse going east on Sibley Road near Fort Street at 47 mph in a 35-mph zone.

The 27-year-old city resident behind the wheel said she had stopped drinking four hours ago, but a preliminary breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.144 percent. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08 percent.

The passenger, who owned the vehicle, also registered a 0.08 during a PBT, so the vehicle was towed. Police said they also found contraband in the vehicle, and arrested the woman and cited her for speeding and operating while intoxicated.

Elderly man robbed
An 80-year-old resident was robbed twice in the past month.

The man, who has cancer, discovered $138 in cash stolen from his wallet on May 10.

On June 9, a woman acting on the man’s behalf checked on the man’s bank account and discovered two $503 withdrawals made from an automated teller machine in River Rouge on June 4, resulting in a negative balance in his checking account.

The man’s debit card and a piece of paper with his personal identification number written on it both were discovered missing from his wallet, prompting the man’s representative to call in the report at about 9:30 a.m. June 10.

Southgate
Building items lifted
Two pallets of construction materials apparently were emptied by thieves sometime last weekend in the 16000 block of Holtz Drive.

The pallets, which were between two garages in the condominium complex, contained 11 coils of aluminum valued collectively at $825 and three boxes of soffit valued collectively at $660.

Couple’s shopping trip proves costly
Two vehicles owned by the same family were broken into about 11:30 a.m. last Sunday at Sam’s Club, 15700 North Line.

The rear passenger-side glass was broken out of a 2009 Ford Edge, and a $1,000 set of golf clubs was removed.

A bag of hand tools and a cordless power drill, collectively value at $400, was taken from a 2001 Chevrolet Express van.

Taylor
Pipe heist halts irrigation work
Copper piping was found stolen June 19 from the Pinewood Condominium Association near Wick and Telegraph roads.

The pipes were for an irrigation system that was to be installed. The contractor set to perform the installation discovered them missing when he came to do the job.

Police listed no value for the missing items.

Call to phone thief yields threat
A video cell phone was stolen early Monday from a truck in the 25300 block of Madden.

A resident discovered the theft when she went out for a walk about 3 a.m. and saw the dome light on inside her husband’s truck.

When she called the phone’s number she was threatened with harm by the person who answered.

Trenton
Flier distributor’s timing questioned
Police were called just after midnight Monday to an apartment complex in the 4500 block of Turner on word of a man breaking into vehicles.

The caller said a man in a white shirt and shorts was going from car to car, looking inside and trying door handles. The caller had been watching the parking lot at night because of a recent round of break-ins.

Police were met by Woodhaven officers and spotted a man matching the description walking on the north side of the complex. The 22-year-old Flat Rock resident told them he was passing out fliers to vehicles and that his identification was in his wallet, which he had left in his vehicle.

At first the man couldn’t remember where he had parked it, but police found it near the entrance. His wallet and keys were in the center console.

After the caller identified the man as the one he had seen earlier, officers then arrested the man for tampering with motor vehicles.

Detectives said they found fliers in his car, and determined that he apparently had not been looking to break into vehicles. The man said he was distributing the fliers at that late hour because that’s when most residents likely were home and their vehicles parked in the lot.

Police advised him to pass out the fliers during daylight hours and release him.

Wyandotte
33 tires stabbed overnight
Tires were punctured on 11 vehicles between 11:30 p.m. June 25 and 10:30 a.m. June 26, with most owners indicating damage occurring between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. June 26.

Eight people in the 500 block of Emmons, 600 and 700 blocks of Eighth and the 700 block of St. Johns woke up to find puncture marks less than an inch long in between two to four tires of their vehicles, including one city-owned white Ford F-150.

Of the 11 vehicles damaged, an MP3 player and several compact discs were stolen from the glove box and center console of a silver 2006 Chevrolet Envoy in the 700 block of St. Johns.

The owner of a black 2003 Dodge Stratus in the 500 block of Emmons suspects his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend may have punctured all four of his vehicle’s tires after the girlfriend and ex-boyfriend exchanged several angry text messages earlier June 25.